April 2013

The Vine Condominiums is a two tower condo community on the northwest end of Belltown. Being one of the first large scale condos in the newly emerging Belltown back in the early 2000’s it sits on a prime piece of land close the waterfront and is close to the Olympic Sculpture Park, Myrtle Edwards Park and the biking and running trail along the waterfront. It is also close to the amenities of Belltown, Lower Queen Anne and the Pike Place Market putting it just a few blocks from a plethora of restaurants, cafes, and events. The building was built in 2002 so some of the interiors might feel a bit dated but the building has made updates to their common areas to keep the building feeling modern.

The stats:

177 units

2 towers – one is 12 stories, the other is 6 stories

Built in 2002

There are studios, one and two bedroom units

Range in size from approximately 447 - 1494 square feet

All have 1 or 2 parking spaces and all have storage

10 units have sold in the last 6 months ranging in price from $278,000 to $610,000

I took a look at March 2013 data and pretty much every neighborhood has the same story. Sales up. Median prices up. Inventory flat.

If you were one of those condo investors waiting for the market to pick up to avoid having to have a unit sit on the market too long, your time may have come. You'll not reap huge windfalls from a pricing point of view but you'll certainly see some action and at a price that's considerably more than you would have gotten a year ago.

In terms of neighborhoods, Belltown/Downtown and Queen Anne/Magnolia both had almost double the units sold in March as they did in Feb but number of listings available was either flat or down versus February.

The East Boston Street Condominiums are a small boutique condo building located in the popular Eastlake neighborhood. Being on the south east side of Lake Union it’s close to downtown, I-5, as well as the University of Washington to the North. With only 6 units it’s a great option for those seeking the conveniences of condo living but without the big condo building feel. It doesn’t have all the super high end finishes, but units are well laid out, comfortable and pricing is reasonable.

The stats:

6 condo units and one commercial space on the street level

4 stories

Built in 1989

All units are two bedrooms

Range in size from approximately 1,112-1,178 square feet

All have parking, 4 of the units have parking for 2 vehicles in tandem spaces

The Trio Condominiums were built during the new construction boom of 06/07 by Triad Development and was completed in 2008. It is located in Belltown on Western Ave between Denny Way and Bay Street. The building offers a mid-range level of finishes and building features, whichmakes it popular for the mid-price range buyers seeking newer constructed condos with modern touches and amenities.

It wasn't that long ago when many people were absolutely convinced that we were heading into a double dip recession and as such condo prices in Seattle would crash well beneath their 2011 lows. Well, I suppose anything is possible but we're now in 2013. And the situation has changed. Buying clients are now complaining more about not enough listings to see and buy, and selling clients are pleasantly surprised when their property is often sold in weeks and not months.

Just so you can see in the actual data, below is years of downtown Seattle real estate pricing in one nice chart (thanks to our good friends from Zillow). Feel free to check it out and join us in calling the Seattle condo recession gone (choose the 10 year view to see how bad 2011 really was). Yes, it's not red hot like in 2006 but then again, that's probably a good thing!

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About the Authors

Marco Kronen is the co-author and a condo Realtor. He and Wendy have worked together serving clients in Seattle since 2007. Feel free to contact Marco here.
Wendy Leung is the founding editor of the Seattle Condo Review. She's also a full-service Seattle realtor.